Interactive Dreams

Abstract: This thesis aim was to design a new form of playful interaction engaging dreaming and awake players. In the tested concept, “Wakers” were able to influence and interact with the dreams of “Dreamers” (with the help of BCI to detect their brainwaves, emotional states and REM phases) by applying external stimuli on the dreamer (somatosensory stimulation, specifically vibrations). In the concept, the dreamer was wearing “the stimuli pajamas”, which vibrated in different ways every time the waker would poke, stroke, shake “the ball”, a prototype displaying the emotional states, sleep stages and movements of the dreamer. Each time the waker would interact with the ball, feedback would be transmitted to the vibrating pajamas, thus influencing the dream and state of the dreamer, which would then be transmitted back and displayed on the ball. A new playful experience was created using sleep as a necessary component.The research was experiment-driven (with body-storming and lo-fi prototyping), and revealed touch to be a powerful and underexplored way to influence dreams. Furthermore, transmitting the emotional states of the dreamer to “the ball” helped render the abstract notion of someone else’s sleep tangible to the waker. The co-creation session organized revealed that the particular concept developed in the context of sleep was tied to interesting notions, such as bringing forward the relationships between the players, the unbalanced power relations, sensual play, abusive play and more. The concept sketches explored the design space around the main concept and shaped some of these different scenarios. All these contributions are aimed to be inspirational material for further research in the field.